Life is much like the good and bad sides of nature: We know there are going to be "normal" times and there are going to be "uncontrollable" times. Life can be green and lush and cool one day and without warning scorching and dry the next. It's the nature of life in a fallen world. One of Job's friends, Eliphaz, put it best when he said in Job 5:7, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.” It is the naive person who is surprised when difficult times come. And it is the wise person who prepares for them so he can stand firm when they arrive. There is only one safe place on earth to live life. There is only one place in which it is possible to stand with confidence against the uncontrollable aspects of life that will inevitably come against us. That place is in God Himself.

In Psalm 91:2, 5-6, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. (5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; (6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.” In other words, we know that strong forces are going to come against us in this life, but we do not have to live in fear of them. The person who takes shelter in God – who stands firm in Jesus Christ – will not be moved by anything. His confidence is not in himself but in the God in whom he stands.

The New Testament talks about standing firm in a number of different ways.

Stand single-mindedly. A house divided cannot stand. One foot in God with the other in the world will result in a fall (Matthew 12:25-26).

Stand unafraid. Paul stood with confidence before kings who were against him because he knew God and God's truth were his foundation (Acts 26:22).

Stand in grace. Standing against the troubles of this life on our own merits is a recipe for failure. We can stand in God only because He accepts us by grace (Romans 5:2; 1 Peter 5:12).

Stand in faith. What would be the point of saying we hope in God if we do not have faith in God? We must stand believing that He is our protection (Romans 11:20; 1 Corinthians 16:13).

Stand in the Gospel. Trying to stand with confidence in God without being related to God through Christ is unreasonable. We must stand as partakers of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1).

Stand in liberty. We will never stand if we fall under the condemnation of the guilt of our sins. We must stand in freedom (Galatians 5:1).

Stand against the devil. We must discern the strategies and attacks of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).

Stand in truth and righteousness. We must be free from sin and free from misunderstandings about God and His ways in our life (Ephesians 6:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Stand in unity. Harmony with others in the church of Jesus Christ is a prerequisite for standing confidently with God's strength (Philippians 4:1).

Stand in the will of God. Obedience to God is foundational to stand confidently in God (Colossians 4:12).

Stand free from the fear of judgment. The Christian stands in God as the friend of God, not the enemy of God (Revelation 6:17).

Stand free in the face of death. This was Paul's message to the Corinthian church in I Corinthians 15:58 when he wrote to them about the resurrection to life of all who are in Christ. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

We know storms will come, but we have kingdom work to accomplish even as the winds blow strong against us. We are immovable in Christ even as we abound in the work of Christ, because of our confidence in God. The Lord bless you as you prayerfully read the attached Weekly SERMON on “The Spirit Controlled Family.”

In His Amazing Grace,

PS: Perhaps this would be a good to think of an end of the year gift to the Bible Baptist Ministry that produces the Weekly SERMON. Yes, the Weekly SERMON will always be sent to you without cost. However there are expenses that we must meet in this ministry. On the average it cost approximately .19 per e-mail Weekly SERMON. We are deeply grateful to those who have given during this past year. So after you have given your tithe to your church and taken care of your pastor if there is an extra offering left we would be very, very appreciative for your help. Thank you.

PPS: In order to access the Weekly SERMON, please click the link to Weekly Sermon Library, where you will be able to choose: Plain Text (TXT), Microsoft Word document (DOC), Microsoft Word 2007 document (DOCX), Rich Text (RTF), Web Page (HTML) or PDF (Portable Document Format), any of the format(s) you desire. After you decide on the appropriate format(s) you may then print a copy of the Weekly SERMON, save it to a file on your computer, or download it and save it to a disk for future use. Your use of this material is meant to be flexible.